History is all in the telling

 I. Pope Joan lived in the 9th century. She was an Englishwoman posing as a man. She delivered her child on the steps of the Vatican. She was stoned to death by the jeering female crowd.

II. Pope Joan was a purely mythological figure -- flour and water mixed up by a family of prostitutes in the 10th century papal court.

III. Pope Joan was a man after all. Hah!  from "The Life of Pope Joan," a novel by Christine Schultz-Touge Another Chicago Press, 1990

BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION

Pope Joan will be presented as a strong woman with a respect for and a com  itment to God and the Church in the manner of Charlemagne—that is with an unquestioning belief in God and a desire to serve the pope and the teachings of the Church, as long as these teachings remain just.

Joan's greatest motivating force is her love of learning, while her mysticism, inner wisdom, and natural grace help her to fulfil her destiny.

Learning in the early Middle Ages was largely a matter of memorization, riddles, and number games. Joan will be shown learning by this method when she first enters the monastery. Yet unlike most of her contemporaries she will go beyond it in her quest for true wisdom and understanding.

Part of her quest for knowledge will be the interpretation of signs from God.

Monks were urged to learn to read and write not only so that they might explain History to their followers, but more importantly so that they might understand and explain God's Word to the people. They were convinced that passages existed between the real world and that of the heavens and that God revealed himself through natural signs—comets, floods, eclipses, etc. It was the duty of learned men (and women such as Hildegarde of Bingen) to interpret these signs. So Joan would naturally believe in signs from God as revealed through nature.

But while dominated by her intellect, Joan is also woman, and throughout the film she will struggle with all that her sex implies.

She will not be so much a feminist, but rather a total human being, brought up to be unaware of sexual roles, and thus faced with difficulties in accepting these roles as a young woman. The acceptance of her body, her emotions, her ambition, and her passionate love for Thomas—a young monk that she follows to the monastery—will pose problems which she will try to resolve through her intellect and her faith in God.

The question of whether a woman could be ordained a priest, bishop, or eventually pope was not so unheard of in the 9th century. (Nor was it to be forever impossible, as we've seen in England this year!).

It wasn't until celibacy was imposed upon priests in the twelfth century, that women were put on and regularly knocked off their pedestals. Until then women were on a much more equal footing with men. Although they were neither priests, nor monks, they were not perceived as a danger, thus an enemy to priests. Most misogynist writings appeared long after the time of Charlemagne. (Including the adventures of Pope Joan which first appeared in the twelfth century).

So, once again, if sexual roles were neither very defined nor threatening, it would not be so extraordinary for Joan to have disguised herself as a boy to follow and learn from her friend, the young monk Thomas.

Joan's birthplace and early years are sketchy in the various versions of the story (she is most often said to be from England, but also from Ireland and Mainz, Germany). In the earliest chronicles she is referred to as Johannes Anglicus so we have chosen England, near York as her place of birth. She will be born into an authentic ninth-century family with a harsh, dominating father and a loving mother, who is capable of standing up to her husband when necessary.

Joan's family should be modest and her first journey (to a neighboring monastery) would be both an escape from her superstitious and cruel father and necessary for her as the only way to pursue an education.

From the very beginning she will be shown to have a rich imagination and quick mind. She is different from the other children. She is not sure if her difference is a blessing or a curse but she knows that her vocation lies beyond her family. That there is a force and an ambition within her that is stronger than the accidental fact that she was born a female in a peasant family.

As mentioned above, scholarship in the time of Charlemagne was mainly limited to memorization and copying of ancient texts. Most often these texts were not understood by the copier. A few intellectuals like Alcuin (Charlemagne's English advisor) went further and tried to actually understand and pass on this quest.

Alcuin had no abbey of his own and when not residing in Charlemagne's court he travelled from one monastery to another, bringing books and adding to the collections of the libraries. Since he had no permanent home Alcuin was a sort of outsider and a genuinely honest and good monk in a time when the Church was most often more concerned with gaining land and power than the actual teachings of Christ.

Joan will meet Alcuin after his return from Charlemagne's court. At the time she arrives he is the librarian of the monastery where she seeks shelter and he serves as a teacher and role model for the young Joan.

Pope Joan's papacy is usually dated in the early 800s. We want her to have the opportunity to meet and be influenced by Charlemagne in her youth, so we are situating her years as pope shortly after his death (814). At this time the papacy is in a confused state and Pope Joan will try to continue the work of Charlemagne, who had been a strong supporter of the Vatican.

So basically her intelligence and wit will take Joan from a simple peasant life and put her into the intellectual environment of an abbey, where she will bloom and prepare herself for her destiny as the first and only female pope. 

BASIC STORY LINE

A journey that stretches from a village in England to the Vatican—passing through France, Germany, and Italy.

JOAN'S CHILDHOOD IN AN ENGLISH VILLAGE

Joan, an dirty bedraggled peasant girl of seven or eight years old, accompanies her father to the weekly village market. In the excitement she drops a tray of goat cheese, which is quickly gobbled up by a fat white pig. The pig belongs to Thomas, a handsome, young Benedictine novice. Thomas promises to pay Joan back on the feast of St. Denis at the Cathedral of York. He leaves hurriedly forgeting a book which he had been reading and Joan takes the precious object home with her.

Joan's family puts on their finest clothing and Joan's hair is washed for the feast at the cathedral. When Thomas sees Joan among the peasants in the church he is struck by her golden hair and natural beauty.

Joan's father is a superstitious man. He believes that the little girl is actually the devil's daughter and blames all of the family's problems on Joan. He spies her with the young monk at the cathedral and the catastrophe which follows is blamed on Joan. In his rage her father cuts off Joan's hair and says he never wants to see her again.

Once her hair is cut, Joan feels rejected but free. In the early Middle Ages, symbols were everything. People did not think abstractly, and rites and ceremonies were necessary to make any contract or idea real. The cutting of hair was an extremely potent symbol (for a monk or nun it meant the renunciation of worldly things). Joan has her own childlike interpretation of its meaning.

With her hair short she almost naturally puts on her dead brother's clothes, and she quickly discovers that tights and a tunic are much more practical than her heavy woolen dress.

Accompanied by a baby goat, she takes off in search of Thomas and on the road meets the intellectual and teacher, Alcuin. Because of her disguise, Alcuin believes she is a boy and promises to help her enter the monastery.

When she arrives at the monastery and tells Thomas that she wants to join him there he laughs at her disguise and says her plan will never work, her place is with her family. But she insists that learning to read and study God's Word is the only way she can be released from the Devil's curse which caused her father to send her away. Thomas promises to keep the secret of her sex.

JOAN'S FIRST YEARS IN A MONASTERY

Once at the monastery, Joan quickly impresses both Thomas and Alcuin with her quick wit. Alcuin gives her a test similar to those he had set to Charlemagne's son Pippin:

Alcuin: Since thou art a youth of good abilities and natural gifts, I will put before thee some riddles. I have seen the dead create the living and the dead consumed by the breath of the living.

Joan: From the rubbing together of sticks, fire is born which consumes them. Joan easily solves such riddles an naturally falls into her new role. Her love of learning and talent for reading and copying manuscripts are quickly discovered.

Several scenes of copying, illuminating, lecturing etc. with the young Joan disguised as a boy. One such scene should be in a school room. Joan escapes the common punishment of "birching" (in which she would be obliged to raise her robe and reveal her sex) by claiming that it is the custom that if, on the spur of the moment, a student can make up a verse that pleases the master, the beating would be abandoned. Thus using her wit, Joan avoids discovery. She becomes very close to Thomas who treats her as a younger brother, but is constantly troubled by the memory of the beautiful little girl with her long, golden hair that he had met in the cathedral. Whenever he finds himself growing too close to Joan, he backs off and spends weeks in total silence. Joan discusses Thomas's behavior with Alcuin who explains it as the young monk's nervousness due to the fact that he will soon take his final vows.

TEN YEARS LATER

Joan is still in the monastery. But she is now a young woman in the white robe of a Benedictine novice. The hood of the robe covers her cropped hair and obscures her face. No one that has seen Joan grow up or has grown up with her questions her manhood—except for Thomas, now a full-fledged monk who has taken the vow of chastity and is tortured by Joan's grace and beauty.

Joan is copying a manuscript, but at the same time adding comments of her own. This was often done at the time, but the comments were usually descriptions of the amount of time and labor that the copyist put into the work, and warnings to the reader to keep the book clean. Joan goes further and actually comments on and questions the meaning of the text.

Joan is nearly Thomas's equal in Latin, arithmetic, and geometry. He teaches her Greek and astronomy.

In the early Middle Ages, the monks of England and Ireland were mainly responsible for copying and preserving Classical texts. On the continent most ancient works had been destroyed or forgotten because the Church considered the Classics to be pagan texts. Soon after Joan takes her vows and becomes a full monk Joan and Thomas are given the joint task of copying the works of the poet Ovid along with a warning not to "enjoy" the text. But the young couple is unable to ignore the message of physical love while copying the poetry.

They swear their love for each other but determine to keep that love pure—both of them are intent on keeping their vows of chastity until the end of the world.

They manage to live this idyllic life for several months. But the outside world is in chaos. It is around the year 800 and the Vikings are invading the Irish and English monasteries. While many monks flee to the continent, Joan and Thomas remain in England. But soon the Vikings begin to attack more often, raiding and burning monasteries along with their valuable manuscript collections. During each raid the monks are forced to collect the most valuable of the books and hide in the forest. After one such adventure the young couple return from hiding with their treasured books and find the monastery in ruins, many of their fellow monks having been tortured and burned alive. And Joan's dear friend Alcuin has totally disappeared.

For Joan this is the end of the world. Her vow of chastity becomes meaningless and in the ruins of the library the young couple finally consummate their love.

They manage to save a few books from the rubble and set off for the continent.

Along with Ovid, one of the books that Joan saves is St. Augustine's The City of God. It inspires her to go to Rome. (St. Augustine was the main source of enlightenment for many 9th century monks. He was both mystical and very much influenced by classical texts. Joan will quote both Ovid and Augustine throughout the film).

But on the road to Rome Joan first plans to search for her missing friend Alcuin, who she hopes has rejoined Charlemagne's court in France or Aachen, Germany.

ON THE ROAD

Joan and Thomas first arrive in Brittany where the destruction by the Vikings is already beginning and Charlemagne's empire is becoming difficult to control.

The couple easily earn their living by stopping to teach for a season or two in one of the Cathedral schools that Charlemagne has established throughout the country. English monks were still considered to be the most gifted teachers at that time and the books in Joan's possession are extremely rare. The couple are a valuable addition to any monastery that takes them in because of their combined talents of teaching as well as copying and illuminating manuscripts.

At this point in her story Joan establishes enduring friendships—with a French student of herbalism who will later come to Rome as her physician and firm supporter, with an old monk, a friend of Alcuin, who gives her clues as to is whereabouts. Her search leads her to Charlemagne's palace in Aachen where her youth and wit are appreciated. Thomas is content here but when a raven appears three days in a row, then flies to the south, Joan is convinced that she must continue her journey.

Joan and Thomas lead an almost normal life on the road. They cook and study together. They take in a stray cat which Joan names St. Augustine. They are very comfortable and happy in this life, but Joan is always confronted with the reality of her body and her sex and continually searches for signs from God regarding her vocation.

One such sign sends her and Thomas on a river trip on the Rhine to a convent in Mainz. The abbess there is a powerful intellectual, both scientific and mystical— modeled after the prophetess, Hildegarde of Bingen, who lived shortly after Joan's time.

The abbess realizes at once that Joan is a woman and they discuss the importance of the body in relation to the intellect. The abbess argues that in God's eyes there is no difference between the sexes, since the body is mortal and all that remains is a sexless soul. She claims that the most perfect of God's creations are the angels.That angels were created without a sex and that Joan should endeavor to live in the manner of angels.

The abbess convinces Joan that the short time spent on earth inhabiting a body should not determine the infinite vocation of her soul.

She encourages Joan to continue to Rome. To follow her destiny. And not to feel guilty about her relation with Thomas. It is a passage to God. Since it is based on love, it can only bring her closer to God. The abbess gives Joan money, books, and a letter of introduction to the pope.

Joan has given up all hope of finding Alcuin and decides to continue her journey to Rome.

JOAN'S ARRIVAL IN ROME

The papacy is in a confused state when Joan and Thomas finally leave Mainz and travel to Rome. The popes are mere puppets of rival clans. They find Pope Leo III surrounded by decadence. In Rome, Joan's reputation as a preacher spreads through the city and soon she is lecturing in place of the masters. Besides preaching on the street Joan teaches the Trivium (grammar, rhetoric and logic) while Thomas teaches the Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music) in the local cathedral school.

But her reputation is built mainly on dialogues and number games such as the following: 

Questions between Johanes Anglicus and a Clerk of Pope Leo III who comes to her lecture to test her wisdom:

The Clerk's question. Say me where was God when he made heaven and earth? Johanes's answer. I say, in the further end of the wind. C. What is God? J. He is God that made all things. C. Whereof was Adam made? J. Of eight things: the first of earth, the second of fire, the third of wind, the fourth of clouds, the fifth of air wherethrough he speaketh and thinketh, the sixth of dew whereby he sweateth, the seventh of flowers, whereof Adam hath his eyes, the eighth of salt whereof Adam has salt tears. C. Whereof Eve? J. She be but the half of Adam, whereby she has not the fire, nor clouds, nor the air wherethrough to speaketh and thinketh, nor the salt to maketh tears. And yet she be his double wherethrough she was begat two times firstly by God in the thigh of Adam and secondly by the angel that pulleth Eve from the bone of Adam. C. Who be that angel? J. That I know not. C. Of what age was Adam when he was made? J. A man of thirty winters. C. And the woman? J. I say her to be the half of that. C. How many children had Adam and Eve? J. Thirty men children and thirty women children. C. What meaneth that? J. That be the Holy Trinity seven times for each of the days of the week, and with the virtues of Faith Hope and Charity taken three times you will arrive at that thirty. C. What is the best thing and the worst among men? J. Word is best and worst.

As time goes by, Joan realizes the "dishonesty" of her position and she will search for answers to justify her actions in classic (Aristotle) and religious (St. Augustine) texts.

Joan makes strong friends and enemies in Rome. She becomes famous for her lectures which draw large crowds. She preaches in favor of a more just distribution of wealth and against the earthly riches of the Church. She supports the Benedictine monks and their vow of poverty. She quickly makes enemies among the cardinals.

Now that Joan has nearly forgotten him, Alcuin turns up in Rome, as a very old man. After having been captured by the Vikings, he has spent the past ten years living among them, teaching and converting them. Alcuin warns Joan not to be carried away by her ambition and asks her and Thomas to leave the papal court and carry on his work among the people.

Joan is unwilling to renounce her books and courtly life to follow Alcuin among the poor. But she does continue insisting on reforms at the Vatican and creates more enemies for herself. Since Joan is so popular with the people and the pope, her enemies can't touch her, but they arrest Thomas on a trumped-up charge and torture him to force him to denounce Joan.

Joan is helpless. Prays. Ask for a sign. Swears to renew her chastity if Thomas is saved.

Thomas is killed by his torturers. After his death, Joan sees herself as a sexless being. She even writes to the German abbess the news that her periods have stopped. A sure sign from God.

Joan leaves Rome and goes off in search of Alcuin and to do penance. She finds him in a mountain village and works by his side.

Back in Rome, the pope quickly falls into a life of decadence and eventually into madness and death. When the cardinals propose their new puppet, Joan gathers the peoples' support, returns to Rome, and is elected pope by them. (At this time, the people, not the cardinals elected the pope).

Pope Joan carries out sweeping reforms and at the age of 33 is at the height of her intellectual quest when she realizes the trick that her body and God have played upon her. Her physician analyses the color of her urine (while looking at the belly protruding through her gown) and announces that God has produced a miracle: the Pope is pregnant.

Joan questions the meaning of this new sign. Does it mean that the body is stronger than the soul? That God is punishing her for renouncing her body and her sex? Or is it a reward? She prays. She looks for answers in St. Augustine. She waits for a sign from God.

That night a storm sets in. It rains endlessly for thirty days and thirty nights. The streets are filled with mud and pestilence. The crops in the fields are destroyed by the flooding. Peasants are forced to kill their oxen to survive. When there is nothing left to eat in the countryside they flock to Rome.

Even the cardinals are forced to go to bed hungry. A rumbling of discontent is heard in the Vatican. Joan refuses to leave her room. She remains locked in her bed chamber accompanied only by her cat, St. Augustine. Each day a slice of bread and bowl of milk appear on her table. On the thirty-first day the cat, which has eaten the same meager fare as Joan, suddenly jumps from the balcony and disappears down the street towards the Lateran.

Joan accepts this as the long-awaited sign. To stop the deluge she too must go forth and pray on the steps of the Lateran.

Joan straps in her heavy belly as tightly as possible, puts on her finest purple robe and the three-tiered tiara, emerges from her chamber, and announces that St. Augustine has given her a sign.

The cardinals, who had assumed that Pope Joan must be dead or nearly so after thirty days of fasting, are amazed at his/her beauty and majesty. Those who had plotted against her scatter away. Her supporters gather about her. She announces that she must do penance for having renounced her body which is the work of God. Her penance is to pray on the steps of the Lateran until the rain should stop.

BIRTH AND DEATH AT THE LATERAN

Joan's white horse is saddled and she mounts it in the pouring rain. Her supporters follow on foot as she makes her way toward the Lateran. Soon the procession is joined by the peasants who have come to Rome to seek shelter. As Joan's foot touches the first step of the Lateran, the rain stops, the clouds disperse and the sun breaks through. A great cheering arises from the crowd.

In the commotion, Joan is taken ill and falls down on the steps. Her physician is called. Knowing the truth of her condition, he tries to push back the crowd and return Joan to the Vatican. But he soon realizes it is too late. Joan has gone into labor.

He has her moved behind a column of the Lateran and a few minutes later the cry of a baby is heard.

Rumors of the birth spread through the crowd. Cries of miracle and the work of the devil come forth.

Joan kisses her son, accepting him as the work of God and the fruit of her love for Thomas. She confers the baby to the physician who promises to watch over and guide the child. He then gives it to a woman who quickly disappears through the halls of the Lateran.

Joan sees a black cat running after the woman and child. Joan smiles at the cat, at the sun, at the crowd which has become suddenly silent. And she closes her eyes to this world.

We could, of course, end closer to the legend:

Joan's earliest chronicler, Jean de Mailly (1260), insists that she was betrayed when, mounting her horse, she gave birth to a child, and was ignominiously tied to the horse's tail, dragged round the city, and then stoned to death.

According to Martin of Troppau (1297) her imposture was exposed when riding in procession from St. Peter's to the Lateran, she gave birth to a child in a narrow street between the Coliseum and St. Clement. She died on the spot and was buried there. Because of the shameful episode, popes thereafter studiously avoided traversing the street.

"And on that very spot they lay out the mother and child, inscribing on her stone Papa, Pater Patrum, Papisse Pandito Partum " A puzzle of P's meaning : Father of fathers, publish the parturition of the popess.